Liberty Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Liberty Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 251.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,622 shares during the quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $788,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after acquiring an additional 42,782 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,351,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,193,000 after purchasing an additional 84,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the first quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,845,000 after purchasing an additional 31,309 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.92.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $117.16 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $118.11. The company’s 50-day moving average is $109.87 and its 200 day moving average is $102.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.03%.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.